Disney unveils 'Avatar' theme park concept art

Disney just unveiled first-look concept and model images for its mammoth Avatar attraction planned for its Animal Kingdom park in Orlando, Fla. Partnering with Avatar director James Cameron, Disney is “imagineering” the alien world of Pandora in the 2009 film as a walk-through immersive land within the park.

Walt Disney Parks chairman Tom Staggs wrote on the Disney park’s blog that guests “will encounter awe-inspiring floating mountains and wander through a nighttime jungle of bio-luminescent plants that are alive with light and sound.” He also noted, in a first hint of what rides might be involved, that guests will “discover what it feels like to soar into the sky riding a Banshee.”

The Avatar land is part of the largest expansion in the history of the park, which will also include a new nighttime event “where live music, floating lanterns, water screens and swirling animal imagery all combine to bring a show to Discovery River.”

The Avatar experience won’t be open anytime soon, however — its current launch date is 2017. In the meantime, Cameron is working on three Avatar sequels, with the first opening December, 2016.

Check out these first-look concept images from Disney, and one with Cameron and the Disney team hovering over a park model: